Violeta Chaidez is the first<a href="http://news.sjvc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/violeta1.jpg"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-660" title="violeta" alt="" src="http://news.sjvc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/violeta1-290x290.jpg" width="291" height="290" /></a> member of her large family to attend college and come away with a degree. Her parents and four siblings know from watching her these last fourteen months, while she got up early for class, studied during the summer when her brothers and sisters were out of school and working to keep her grades up, that it could be done.

“I loved showing them my degree and maybe inspiring them to go to college, too,” says Violeta.

Her 3.8 GPA indicates she is a deserving role model.

Her <a title="Business Administration" href="http://www.sjvc.edu/business-administration/">Business Administration </a>classes provided the perfect fit for her future plans.

“I wanted to enroll in a program that would give me the most opportunities for a career,” says Violeta, who would like to open her own spa business one day.

One class in particular provided a big boost to her self-employment dream.  “Miss Nichols’ Business Capstone class taught us a lot about running a business,” she says. “It was more than just buying stuff to sell; it was about how to attract people and how to make your business come alive.” Fun and creativity were definitely emphasized.

“I thought that classes might be a monotone of lectures and homework, but class projects like creating your own business and selecting a theme made it so much fun.”

Violeta will attend<a title="SJVC" href="http://www.sjvc.edu/"> SJVC’s </a>graduation ceremony on Jan. 18<sup>th</sup> in Rancho Cucamonga. Her parents and siblings will be there to cheer her accomplishments, and she is pretty sure her brothers and sisters will use this memory to move forward in their own educational lives, now that she has shown the way.